discuss the domain and scope of Public Administration; anddistinguish between Business and Public Administration.

1.1

.

INTRODUCTION

You are our undergraduate learner. We appreciate your keen interest in learning PublicAdministration. We are sure you are anxious

to

learn

all

that is given

iu

this Unit. Thisfirst unit in the course

Administrgtive

'Theory,

aimsoat

introducing

he

discipline of PublicAdministration to you.

It

explains the meaning and

characteristics

of

the

disciplineof Public Administration. Public Administration,

as

an aspect of governmentalactivity is very old. It is as old as

human I~istory.

In European languages, the

term

Publie

Administration began to creep in during the seventeenth century to separate the absolutemonarch's administration of public affairs from

his

nianagement of his private household.It was a

peiiiiu

......

~~~?:rrch

133

separaled

from the state and the government wassuperimposed

on

all

other societal institutions within a definite territory. In

every.saciery

there are some activities like maintenance of law and order and

defence

which have to beundertaken in public interest. Public Administration as

a

system of

organisation

is

mainlyconcerned with the

perfolmance

of

th&e

activities. Political decision makers set

the

goalsfor the political system.

It

is the business of Public Administration

lo

work

fur

the

realisation of these goals.

At

the present stage of

man's

evolution,

Ptlhlic rIJmint$tr:111ri11

has proved to

be

indispensable.

%he

scope of Public Administration has expanded

with

the

I

rise of the modem administrative state. Its growing importance in

thc

conduct of humanaffairs

is

evident in the birth of

numerous

public laws, growth

clf

public profession,accumulation of huge

anns

and increasing coverage of

laxes

and

pi~blic

expenditure.

The

domain of state functions

is

almost

all-cotqkellensive

in socialist countries. Even thecapitalist states have expanded their functions under

compulrrions

of welfareconsiderations.

The

post-colonial

'third

-

world' countries have embarked upon

Develop,ment

Administration to speedily bring about stale sponsored

stwio-econat~kc

reconstmction.

programmes,

establtshing

and revising organisation,

di~cting

and supervising employees,providing leadership, communicating and receiving ccmmunications, determining work

mkthods

and

procedures,appraising

performance, exercising controls and other functionsperformed by government executives and

supervisors.

It is the action part of the government,

the means

by which the purposes and goals of the government are

realised.

Some well known definitions of Public Administration are:

4

"

Public Administration is detailed and systematic execution of public law. Every

particular

application of law isanact of administration

"

-

L.D.White.Public

Administration

is

"

the art and science of management applied to the affairs of the State

"

-

D.

Waldo.

4

"

By Public Administration is meant in common usage the activities of the executivebranches of the National, State and Local Governments''

-

H. Simon.

me

'Public' aspect of Public Administration gives the discipline a special character. It

can

.

be

looked

at formally to mean government'.

So,

Public Administration is governmentadministration, the

focus

being specifically on public bureaucracy. This is the

meaninp

commonly

used

in discussing Public Administration. Public

Administration,in

a

wider

sense,

has sought to expand its ambit by including any administration that has considerable impact.on the public. From this standpoint, a private electricity undertaking like the Calcutta ElectricSupply Corporation can